Legally blind and still woodworking
September 14th, 2009 in blogs
Stephen Scott, associate editor
10 users recommend
Tom Fuller, 69, continues working in his shop despite being severely visually impaired. He's diligent about using push sticks, which are very clearly labeled.
Photo: Courtesy Rock Hill Herald, www.heraldonline.com
Tom Fuller took up woodworking about 10 years ago after moving to Rock Hill, SC toward the end of his construction career. Back then, with one good eye and one bad one, he built a house full of furniture for he and his wife, Riccie. Chests of drawers, a sideboard, several occasional tables and more.
Since then, though, he lost the bad eye and the good one got worse. Detached retina. Corneal transplant. Legally blind is what the doctors say now - 20/300, with more surgery on the horizon.
But Tom is still a woodworker.
He can't read facial expressions or see the teeth on his tablesaw blade, but he still makes regular trips to his shop in the outbuilding behind his home. His biggest recent project, a gun cabinet for his daughter, was interrupted a couple of times for surgery. It took 2 years to complete.
It might surprise you to learn that Tom's a power-tool guy. His shop is complete with a tablesaw, jointer, thickness planer, drill press, router table, biscuit joiner and jigsaw. The jigsaw is the one he avoids. In order to follow a line with it, he says, "I have to get my eye and face so close to the blade that sawdust becomes a real problem."
Tom uses a visor-style magnifier, but still has to get his eye within 2 inches of the scale when setting his tablesaw fence. For cuts that he makes frequently, he's milled reference blocks for the sake of quick and consistent set-ups.
He's figured other work-arounds, too. He used to get fits trying to line up the dust-suction holes on his random-orbit sander with the holes on a new sanding disc. Then he found that dowels in a couple of the sander holes worked perfectly as indexing pins, helping him feel his way to a good fit. When he needs to drill a hole, he puts a piece of white tape on the workpiece and marks the spot with a black marker. Then he uses a punch to strike a dimple that he can find with his finger to locate the drill bit.
Among his biggest frustrations - trying to get a two-prong plug into an electrical socket and the fact that "it takes me so long to do things."
To see more of Tom's shop and work, check out the story in his local paper, The Rock Hill Herald, or watch the video from the local TV station. If you're a visually impaired woodworker and you have ideas to share for working safely and quickly, post a comment. Tom is eager to hear from you.
posted in: blogs
ABOUT THE EDITORS MAILBOX
FineWoodworking.com editors report from the woodworking front lines. Check in every weekday for news, information, projects, and answers to questions from Fine Woodworking readers everywhere.
Learn about our new format!
Looking for our Archive?
Comments (1)